To Stem Flood of Apprentices

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 215, 30 November 1927, Page 18

To Stem Flood of Apprentices

UNIONS TAKING ACTION TRADE SCHOOLS ADVOCATED It is feared in trade union circles that when the district proportion of apprentices is abolished next February trades will be immediately flooded with youths. REPRESENTATIVE meeting of unionists, held in the Trades Hall last evening, decided to urge unions to take immediate action to try to get tlie individual quotas reduced to the ratio of the district quotas. The meeting decided first that the time had come when the labour representatives on Apprenticeship Committees should have a protective and educational association of their own in order to work in co-ordination. It was decided to ask unions to further the formation of such a body. Mr. J. Clark, secretary of the Plumbers’ Union, then brought forward the urgent question of trying to get some protection for trades before the abolition of the district proportion of apprentices in February next enabled employers to take on the larger numbers of apprentices allowed under the individual proportion. Unless something was done immediately and the Arbitration Court was approached at its next sitting on December 12, the number of youths in trades could in some cases be increased up to 50 per cent. TO APPROACH tiOURT Mr. Clark moved that representatives of unions be urged to try and secure unanimity on apprenticeship committees for the reduction of the proportion, failing which the unions themselves should make application to the Arbitration Court, which, as a matter of fact, many were doing. The more applipations the better, he said. Otherwise the amendment would come into force before the court would be sitting in Auckland again. Something would have to be done, agreed Mr. R. F. Barter, speaking on the general question of apprentices. In the engineering trade, he pointed out, the four centres had allowed shops to i have two apprentices to each journey- ! man until Auckland had stepped out j of the line and secured a quota of one j to one.

! The time had come, he said, when the unions should get up and defend their point of view with regard to apprentices. The Chamber of Commerce and various other bodies which were j discussing the apprenticing of boys I and accusing the unions of keeping j the boys from entering the trades should be told to mind their own business. Boys were in the trade for the years of their apprenticeship and ! were being discharged the moment | they came out of their time. They had | no chance of following the trade furI ther. The competitive system was the greatest hindrance to the training of apprentices, said Mr. J. Mitchell, who presided. The proper place for the training of youths was at a trade school. Otherwise a man was penalising himself in the time he gave to teaching ap-

prentices, and was training his own competitor. He was in favour of the trade schools on the German system. Mr. Barter regretted that there were no trade schools in this country. Various capitalist bodies were now getting the sympathy of parents by blaming the unions for keeping boys out of trades, but these bodies did not frankly state that their interest in boys was as a source of cheap labour for five years, after which they could go on the scrap-heap. Mr. Clark’s motion was carried with a collateral motion that unions be recommended when applying for new ratios to ask for not more than one to three. It was resolved that the notices should be sent out to unions, stressing the urgency that the question should be before the court on December 12.